Congress' to-do-list.

Byline: The Register-Guard

As Congress convenes for its lame-duck session, it will be tempting for lawmakers to mull the election just past - Republicans with smiles and Democrats with frowns - and the new Republican-controlled Congress to convene in January. But this week's session has an agenda containing several items that should not be ignored.

First and foremost, this session of Congress should address what The Washington Post correctly calls its most basic responsibility: funding the operations of the federal government. So far, Congress has passed only two of the 13 appropriations bills it needs to pass. The unpassed bills contain funding for a vast array of federal programs, many of which directly affect people's lives. The yet-to-be enacted appropriations also reach into President Bush's favorite subject area: security. These include the president's much-touted Office of Homeland Security, a bureaucratic attempt to counter the threat of terrorism.

The unpassed appropriations also have funds for such diverse functions as nutrition programs, bioterror research, veterans care, student loans, environmental regulation and increasing the number of FBI agents.

The temptation, as it has been in the past, will be for Congress to simply pass yet another continuing resolution to fund programs at existing levels until the new Congress can, with the president's input, set its own spending priorities. But Congress should not go that route. The senators and representatives now serving in this Congress were elected to make decisions, and funding government programs is a fundamental responsibility.

So they should make those funding decisions - now.